Ph.D. Guidelines

Ph.D. student are accepted for a twelve month trial period.

Immediately on the acceptance date, the students are required to fill in the advisor (a staff member whose academic rank is that of a senior lecturer or higher and who has agreed to act as their advisor) form in The Kreitman School System

Within 3 month from the acceptance date, the students are required to formally propose a thesis title by filling the form in The Kreitman School system (above).

Within a year from the acceptance date, the students are required to submit a research proposal to the Graduate students' Committee of the Kreitman School. Before submission, the research proposal should be approved by your advisor and by the departmental graduate committee.

One year after the Thesis defense exam, and every year until the Thesis is submitted, the students are required to submit a progress report on their progress. The progress report should be submitted after the approval of their accompanying committee.

As part of the PhD curriculum the students are also required to:

1. Take a total of 6-10 credits towards the doctoral degree, as determined by your advisor. Doctoral students in the Department of Computer Science are required to take courses of at least 10 credit points.​​ The courses must be completed within three years from the date of acceptance. 

2. Take the course "Scientific writing in English" (without credit).

3. Participate in seminars and workshops according to the requirements of your department

(Without credit).

4. Give at least one seminar lecture dealing with your research topic (in the last year of your studies) in your department.

At the beginning of each semester, the students must register online for the courses they are taking that semester. In case the student is not taking any courses he/she must register to "research" 10-3-0051.

Please enter the Kreitman System Website to appoint advisor/s and submit the topic for approval

Advisor: A member of the academic staff of the University, at the
rank of ‘senior lecturer’ or higher, who has been delegated by the academic department and approved by The Committee to oversee the student's research.

Research topic: the title of your research, both in Hebrew and English.

Students in the direct track will submit a "Research Proposal Abstract" at the beginning of the third semester of their studies and the full research proposal at the beginning of the fifth semester (see guidelines for the full research proposal below).

The research abstract should be written in either Hebrew or English and should include:

1. Cover page – (see example) with the supervisor's signature and the departmental committee chair's signature.
2. Scope of the research proposal abstract – up to 5 pages, not including the cover page and the list of references.
3. The proposal should be written in font size 12 and spaced 1.5 lines.
4. Abstract in Hebrew or English (the abstract should be up to half a page).
5. Importance of the work – a brief review of the scientific background of the work.
6. Objective of the work – defining the problems/questions that will be researched.
7. Research approach – methods for solving the question.
8. : If your academic discipline requires it, initial results indicating the practicality of the Proposal should be presented.
9. Literature sources.

Guidelines for submitting the research proposal abstract:

1. After the research proposal summary is approved and signed by the supervisor, it must be sent to the Head of the Departmental Committee for signature.
2. After the summary is signed by the supervisor and the Head of the Departmental Committee, it must be sent to the Kreitman School’s coordinator.
3. The summary will be sent by the Kreitman School for review by an internal committee at Ben-Gurion University (two reviewers to be recommended by the supervisor). This committee will approve or reject the research proposal abstract. If the committee does not approve the proposal abstract, the student will be required to submit a revised proposal within six months.

1. Specific differences between tracks:

Students in the regular track (receiving scholarship) will submit the proposal no    later than 12 months from the date of the student's acceptance to doctoral studies.

Students in the "Combined Program" must submit their Research Proposal during the first month of their studies.

Students in the direct track must submit their research program by the end of       the first month of the fifth semester of their studies.

2. Instructions for Submission of the Research Proposal

• After the Advisors approve the proposal and sign it, please send the file to the Head of the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee to approve and add their signature.
• The student is required to submit the research proposal as an electronic file by email to their coordinator at the Kreitman School.
• After submitting the research proposal, the student will receive an email asking to upload the research proposal as a PDF file in the Kreitman system.

3. Scope of the Research Proposal

• For students in the regular or direct track: The research proposal should be up to 20 pages, not counting the bibliography and a milestone timetable.
• For students in the combined track: The research proposal should be up to 60 pages, including the bibliography and milestone timetable. For Humanities and Social Sciences – up to 100 pages, including the bibliography and milestone timetable.

4. Content and Structure of the Research Proposal

The Research Proposal will be written in Hebrew or English, Font size 12, spacing 1.5.

• A title page (click to see the example) approved and signed by the Advisor and by the Head of the Departmental Committee.
• A one-page Hebrew abstract for a Hebrew Thesis and two single-page Hebrew and English abstracts for a non-Hebrew Thesis. Foreign students are exempt from including a Hebrew abstract in the proposal. The final thesis will include an abstract in Hebrew and an abstract in English, which will be a direct translation of each.
• The significance of the work and its scientific background.
• The goal of the research and the main Thesis hypotheses
• Anticipated innovations resulting from this research.
• Prior research and publications on this topic.
• The research methodology; the techniques and stages towards proving the hypotheses.
• Students in the regular or direct track: If your academic discipline requires it, initial results indicating the practicality of the Proposal should be presented.
• Students in the combined track: must also include a section describing their master’s research, their results and findings, and their interim conclusions. This section must be sufficiently detailed so that the reader can judge the quality and breadth of the prior work, to assess its contribution to the solution of the general problem.
• Stages of the work implementation: Key milestones for each year should be specified, and the milestones for the first year should be detailed. Example milestone table. This table will be included and referred to in the first progress report during the meeting with the accompanying committee.
• Bibliographic references from the academic literature in the field.
• A preliminary outline of the entire work (Humanities students only).

The report must be submitted at least once a year (according to the date provided to you in the "change of status” letter – received after the approval of the Research proposal) throughout the Ph.D. period and until the submission of the thesis for evaluation (including during an extension of studies). You should begin the process (of submitting the report to the supervisor and the committee and scheduling a meeting with the committee) about a month before the committee's meeting date in order to meet the deadlines.

The form can be downloaded from the student portal.

Guidelines for Writing the Report

The student must address and include all sections of the report:

• Section 1: Student details.
• Section 2: The student's academic status (completion of requirements and stages) during doctoral studies + the student’s signature.
• Section 3: Research proposal’s title, a brief summary (up to half a page), research goals and questions, and the progress made in the passing year. Additionally, list scientific publications from the research work and presentations at conferences in the passing year.
• Section 4: A detailed description of the main activities carried out in the last year according to the milestones set in the previous year (up to two pages, excluding illustrations and graphs). Emphasize what was done and how the research advanced during the past year. For students submitting their first report: address the milestones detailed in the research proposal submitted during the candidacy exam. For students in their second year or beyond, the milestones are detailed in the report from the previous year.
• Section 5: Work plan for the remaining period until the Ph.D. thesis submission and defining milestones for the upcoming year.
• Section 6: Supervisor’s and Head of the Department’s approval. The supervisor’s comments on the research progress, difficulties, and achievements. After the Supervisor’s approval, please send the form to the Head of the Department for approval.
• Section 7: The committee’s report—to be completed by the committee after the meeting with the student. Please send the Progress Report to the committee as a Word document file.

**Any delay in submission of the report must be approved by the Departmental Research Students’ Committee. Without said approval, scholarships will be suspended, and the committee will take steps to terminate the student’s studies.

Submission Process of the Progress Report

• After the student writes the report, the supervisor must review it and fill out the required part of the form (Section 6). The approved report with the supervisor's comments will be submitted by the supervisor to the Head of the Departmental Research Students' Committee for approval. After receiving approval from the Head of the Research Students' Committee, the student must submit the signed report to the Ph.D. Accompanying Committee.
• Simultaneously with submitting the report for the supervisor's signature, the student must contact the committee members and schedule a meeting. A brief presentation must be prepared, outlining the progress made during the last year and the work plan for the upcoming year. The meeting with the accompanying committee will take place without the supervisor’s presence.

Ph.D. Accompanying Committee

• The committee members are the internal examiners (faculty members from Ben-Gurion University) who attended the candidacy exam for the student’s research proposal. You can find the list of committee members in the "Change of Status” letter received after the approval of the Research proposal.
  Committee members will send the full progress report form to the coordinator at the Kreitman School after their meeting with the student.

Based on the written report and the presentation during the meeting, the committee members will evaluate the student’s progress and the proposed work plan. The committee will write its opinion and sign the form.

You may submit your thesis for evaluation to the Kreitman School only after completing all the curriculum requirements. The requirements are detailed in the acceptance letter and in the "change of status letter" after the Thesis proposal exam.

1. After finishing the paper, a scientific abstract must be prepared (according to the proper format found in paragraph 6) and using the correct terminology as found in the professional literature. The style must be acceptable for publication in both the Hebrew and the English sections.

2. The thesis is usually written in Hebrew or in English. The Thesis should undergo editing by either editorial services or by use of Grammarly, and approval of editing should be sent while submitting the thesis.

Please note that a thesis submitted as a collection of articles or chapters should also be edited. ​

3. The Thesis must be submitted to the Kreitman School Office after being approved by the Advisor/s. First submission of the thesis to The Kreitman School is of a digital copy. if there's a request to submit a printed copy, please do so as follows:

· Printed copy or copies will not be returned.

· All copies in temporary (spiral) bindings.

· Typed on white A4 paper.

· Hebrew texts should be in 12-point David font and English texts should be in 12-point New Times Roman font

· Margins on all sides with a line-and-a-half spacing between the lines of text.

4. The Thesis will include both Hebrew and English abstracts. Each abstract should be up to 5% of the volume of the entire work. Following the abstract, the student should provide a list of keywords in Hebrew and English.

5. The student should submit the thesis binding pages as follows:

· The cover and inside title-pages (immediately following the covers, as in the attached example) should be equivalent on both the Hebrew and English sides.

· The parallel half-title pages (following both title-pages) should include the name/s of the Thesis Advisor/s and the name/s of the Faculty/ies and Department/s for which the research was done (as in the attached example).

· The parallel 3rd pages should contain acknowledgements and thanks, as per the student’s wishes.

· The parallel 4th pages may contain special dedications or quotations, as per the student’s wishes.

· Please note, the date on the thesis should be the actual day of submission.

6. After the binding pages come the tables-of-contents, lists of illustrations or tables (optional), the parallel abstracts and the main text of the Thesis, including:

a) An introduction, including a detailed explanation of the purpose and goals of the research, a description of all the relevant data already known on the subject and a review of all the other existing research on the same subject.

b) A description of the research and its results, describing all the methods and techniques used, but leaving the results for other chapters.

c) A discussion of the research process and what conclusions were reached, which hypotheses were confirmed or negated, comparing these conclusions with those reached previously by other relevant researchers.

d) A bibliography.

7. All the equations and tables in the body of the work should each be numbered consecutively.

8. The length of the Thesis—Students from the Faculties of Health Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and the Management Sciences may not submit more than 100 pages (not including: appendices, abstracts, graphs, keywords and  the bibliography).

In case the thesis includes qualitative research it may not exceed 250 pages

(not including: appendices, abstracts, graphs, keywords and  the bibliography).

Humanities students may not exceed 350 pages in length (including: appendices, abstracts, graphs, keyword lists, and the bibliography.

9. After the Panel of Judges has approved the Thesis and the Kreitman School has made the official announcement, 1 complete, bound copy, signed by the Thesis advisor/s have to be submitted to the Kreitman School Office.

10. The Ph.D. Thesis may also be submitted as a collection of articles. find the instructions in the sections below.

11.The Ph.D. Thesis may be also submitted as a collection of chapters. find the instructions in the sections below.

Example for thesis structure when the thesis is in written in English

Example for thesis structure when the thesis is in written in Hebrew

For Ph.D. Students who choose to write their thesis in English, language editing is required before submission.

The Kreitman School provides two options of funding for this purpose. Students may pick one out of the two following options:

1. Reimbursement from The Kreitman School – after paying for editorial services, The Kreitman School will reimburse up to 1,000 INS from what was paid by the student. The transfer will be to the student's bank account after presenting the original receipt to The Kreitman School's office.

2. Free "Grammarly" license– The Kreitman School will hold distribution rounds for all Ph.D. students who are in the process of writing their thesis. The license for Grammarly will expire after a year or less, depending on the distribution round. After receiving an email announcing distribution, the students should fill out the digital form attached to the email.

Please mind that you may choose only one option of the above for Funding. After receiving one, you can not be granted further Funding for editing your thesis.

For requests and further information, please contact the current Head of the Dean's office of The Kreitman School. Please click here for contact details.

• ​Instructions for collection of articles
• Example for cover pages
• Request form for submitting an article based thesis

Instructions for submitting a Ph. D. Thesis as a collection of chapters

This format is identical to the format of the collection of articles but may include articles that haven't been accepted for publication. It can include articles that are or will be published in Hebrew.

If one of the chapters has been published:

1. There is no requirement for it to be published in a Q1 or Q2 journal.
2. The article must be included as part of the dissertation's sequence, and not as a separate PDF file. However, at the beginning of the chapter, it must be noted where the article was published and who the co-authors were.
3. In case there is more than one primary author, the consent of the other primary authors must be obtained to ensure that they do not intend to use the same article for their own doctoral dissertation.

Before deciding on this format, you must discuss it with your advisor and make sure that this format is accepted in your research field.

Structure of the Doctoral Dissertation:

1. A Hebrew abstract: A concise summary of the research objectives, methodology, results, and scientific contribution
2. An English abstract: A similar description of the research, written in English.
3. Introduction that should address the following topics:

1. A current overview of the general research field.
2. A general survey of the chapters and their part in the research field/s; A description of the order of appearance of the articles, the connections between them, and how they produce a logical and consistent framework.
3. The research methods used and the experimental procedures--a description of the research methods not described in the articles, particularly any techniques developed during the research process. In cases of experimental work, a detailed survey must also be made regarding the experimental system used in the research.

4. At least three independent chapters, each chapter should be structured as a stand-alone article ready for submission to a journal. Each chapter will include the following:
   1. Introduction of the subject explored and connection to the research field.
   2. Literature Review.
   3. Depending on the research field - Research Questions/Objectives and Hypotheses.
   4. Research Methods: Description of the methodology and tools used.
   5. Results: Presentation of findings in relation to the research questions and/or hypotheses.
   6. Discussion: Analysis of the findings, their relevance to the existing literature, and interpretations of the results. The discussion section should include the study’s limitations and recommendations for future research.
5. After presenting all chapters, include the following:
   1. A general Integrative discussion – connecting all the different chapters in the Thesis. It should include a discussion of the study’s limitations, recommendations for future research, and, if applicable, practical recommendations.
   2. One comprehensive bibliography (separate bibliographies should not be included in each of the chapters, to prevent needless repetition).